Window regulator



Sept. 10, 1968 M. D. STENGER ET AL 3,400,489

WINDOW REGULATOR Filed Nov. 22, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet l I W jNlNTORS0172's my 24) 79/91 fozzisf d feder A TTOR NE Y Sept. 10, 1968 M,STENGER ET AL 3,400,489

WINDOW REGULATOR Filed Nov. 22, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 AT TORNEY Sept.10, 1968 T E ET AL 3,400,489

WINDOW REGULATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet Filed Nov. 22, 1966 INVENTORS F701??? 5.fie/ e2- 5 United States Patent 3,400,489 WINDOW REGULATOR Morris D.Stenger, Harper Woods, and Louis J. Weber,

Detroit, Mich., assignors to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich.,a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 22, 1966, Ser. No. 596,180 6Claims. (Cl. 49348) This invention relates generally to windowregulators andmore specifically to a window regulator for moving avehicle body window in a substantially rectilinear path between open andclosed positions.

Conventional rear quarter windows are moved by window regulators fromclosed position through a compound arcuate path to open position inwhich the window is stored vertically beneath the window opening withinthe vehicle body. Such compound arcuate movement requires the use ofseveral complex window guides. The complexity of conventional windowregulators requires the provision of many points of adjustment to permitadjustment of the window for proper operation.

This invention provides a regulator having simplified guide means andfewer points of adjustment and which provides stable movement of thewindow between open and closed positions.

One feature of this invention is that it provides window regulatingmeans including spaced guide means mounted on the vehicle body, one ofwhich is engaged by window-mounted guided means and defines a path ofwindow movement, and the other of which engages a tailpiece of thewindow to provide stability of the window laterally of the path duringwindow movement.

Another feature is that the window-mounted guided means include a pairof spaced rollers mounted on an intermediate portion of the window andengaging an upper body-mounted guide channel and the window tailpieceengages a lower body-mounted guide channel at point spaced beneath therollers intermediate thereof to provide a three-point suspension of thewindow relative to the body.

Yet another feature is that the lift arm pivotally and slidably engagesa channel mounted on the windowmounting sash plate normally of the pathof window travel to provide an effective driving connection.

A further feature is that stop means are provided on the body forengaging the leading edge of the window tailpiece to limit the movementthereof to its closed position.

A yet further feature is that stop means are provided on the body forengaging the lift arm to limit movement of the window to open position.

These and other features of this invention will become readily apparentupon reference to the following detailed description of the attacheddrawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary partially broken away view of a vehicle bodyhaving a rear quarter window mounted thereon for movement between openand closed positions by regulating means according to this invention,with the window being shown in closed position;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 showing the window in openposition;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken generally on the plane indicated byline 33 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a view taken generally on the plane indicated by line 44 ofFIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 showing an alternative embodimentof the regulating means.

Referring now to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, an automobile body includes aroof 12, a door 14 having a conventional vertically movable window 16and a rear quarter window opening 18 which is adapted to be closed3,400,489 Patented Sept. 10, 1968 by a rear quarter window 20. Window 20includes a weather strip 22 mounted on its leading edge for sealingengagement with the rearward edge 24 of window 16 in the illustratedclosed position. Window 20 is adapted to be moved between open andclosed positions by regulating means according to this invention as willnow be described with reference to FIGURES 1 through 4.

As best shown in FIGURE 3, an intermediate portion of window 20 ismounted to a sash plate 26 by a pair of bolts 28 and 30 which are eachretained by a threaded fastener 32. Gaskets 34 are interposed betweenwindow 20 and the sash plate 26 and fasteners 32. A stud 36, attached bya nut 38 to the rearward end of sash plate 26, includes a headed portion40 which retains a nylon or other plastic guided member or roller 42. Inthe same manner, stud 30 includes headed portion 44 which retains asimilar roller 46. Reference may be had to 3,199,930 Carleton ct al. forthe details of the rollers.

As best shown in FIGURE 4, rollers 42 and-46 are slidably received in aformed metal guide member or channel 48 which is slightly arcuate andmay be termed substantially rectilinear. Channel 48 includes respectivefront and rear mounting flanges 50 and 52 which are adjustably securedat 54 to the body inner panel 56.

Window 20 includes an extension or tailpiece 58 that is slidablyreceived within a U-shaped guide channel 60 having mounting flanges 62and 63 which are bolted to a flange 64 and a bracket 65, respectively ofthe body inner panel. Channel 60 is spaced vertically beneath channel 48and extends substantially parallel thereto.

The guide channels 48 and 60', which respectively receive rollers 46 and42 and tailpiece 58, constrain Window 20 to move in a horizontalsubstantially rectilinear path between a closed position, shown inFIGURE 1, and an Open position, shown in FIGURE 2, in which the windowis stored within a pocket provided in the roof 12. Manual operatingmeans for moving the window in the aforedescribed path will now bedescribed with reference to FIGURES 1, 2 and 4.

A channel member 66 is mounted substantially vertically on sashv plate26. A drive roller 68, bolted to one end of an operating member or liftarm 70, is slidably received within channel 66. The other end of thelift arm 70 is secured to a plate 72 that is pivoted at 74 to abody-mounted bracket 76. Plate 72 is pivoted at 78 to one end of aconnecting link 80. The other end of link 80 is pivoted at 82 to asector gear 86 which is pivoted at 88 to bracket 76. Gear 86 meshes withpinion 92 which .is driven by a conventional manually operated crank arm94, mounted interiorly of the automobile passenger compartment.

Rotation of crank arm 94 effects rotation of sector gear 86 and, throughlink 80, rotation of lift arm 70 about pivot 74. Lift arm 70 moveswindow 20 between the closed position shown in FIGURE 1 and the openposition shown in FIGURE 2, as guided by the aforedescribed guidechannels 48 and 60, rollers 42 and 46, and tailpiece 58.

As best seen in FIGURES 1 and 2, a body-mounted stop member 96 ismounted on flange 62 adjacent the forward end of channel 60 forengagement with the leading edge of tailpiece 58 to limit the forward orclosing movement of window 20. As shown in FIGURE 4, a stop member 98including a resilient cushion 100 is mounted on the end of lift arm 70.Upon rearward movement of window 20, stop member 98 engages flange 102of bracket 65 to limit the rearward or opening movement of window 20.Thus the embodiment shown in FIGURES 1 through 4 providesmanually-operated regulating means for moving a rear quarter windowalong a substantially rectilinear horizontal path between a closedposition and 3 an open position in which the window is stored within thevehicle roof.

An alternative embodiment of the regulating means is shown in FIGURE 5wherein a power operator is used. The elements of this embodimentidentical to those described in reference to the manually-operatedembodiment are denoted by the same numerals.

In this embodiment the guide means are identical to those justdescribed. However lift arm 70 is rigidly attached to a sector gear 104which is pivoted at 74 to a body-mounted bracket 1G6. Sector gear 104meshes with a worm 110 driven by an electric motor 112 which is mountedon bracket 106. Thus actuation of motor 112 will effect pivotal movementof arm 70 through worm 110 and sector gear 104 to move the window 20between open and closed positions in the same manner as described abovein reference to the manually-operated embodiment.

Although an electric motor having a worm drive is shown, other powersources and drive arrangements could be substituted. Thus thisembodiment provides an alternate means of driving lift arm 70 to effectmovement of window 20 in a substantially rectilinear horizontal pathbetween open and closed positions relative to rear quarter opening 18.

In both embodiments rollers 42 and 46 and channel 48 determine the pathof movement of window 20, while the engagement of tailpiece 58 withchannel 60 provides lateral stability for the window. The rollers 42 and46 and the spaced intermediate tailpiece 58 thus provide a three-pointsuspension for window 20 to provide stability during movement. Becauseof the simplified guide arrangement, adjustment of the mechanism may belimited to only two points 54. The arrangement of drive roller 68 andsash plate channel 66 permits adjustment of the mechanism, whileretaining an effective driving connection.

While only two embodiments of this invention have been shown anddescribed, further modifications will appear obvious to the routineerand are contemplated within the scope of this invention.

We claim:

1. Regulating means for moving a window between open and closedpositions relative to a vehicle body opening, the window including aclosure portion for closing the opening and a tailpiece portionextending therefrom,

-4 including spaced first and second guide means mounted on the body,guided means mounted on a portion of the window intermediate the closureand tailpiece portions and engageable with the first guide means toguide the movement of the window in a predetermined path, the secondguide means receiving the tailpiece portion to provide stability of thewindow laterally of the predetermined path during window movement, andoperating means for moving the window between open and closed positions.

2. Regulating means according to .claim 1, wherein the guided meansinclude first and second guided members mounted in spaced relationshipon the window and the first guide means include an elongatedbody-mounted guide member slidably engaging the first and second guidedmembers for guiding the movement of the window between open and closedpositions.

3. Regulating means according to claim 2, wherein the elongatedbody-mounted guide member is a guide channel and the first and secondguided members engage the guide channel to guide the movement of thewindow.

4. Regulating means according to claim 3, wherein the second guide meansinclude a body-mounted guide channel engageable with the windowtailpiece portion at a point spaced from and intermediate the first andsecond guided members, the interengagement of the first and secondguided members and of the tailpiece with their respective guide channelsproviding a three-point suspension of the window during movement betweenopen and closed positions.

5. Regulating means according to claim 1, including body-mounted stopmeans engageable by an edge of the window tailpiece portion to limit themovement thereof to closed positions.

6. Regulating means according to claim 1, including body-mounted stopmeans engageable by the operating means to limit the movement of thewindow to open position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,304,640 12/1942 Joachim 49-3753,050,332 8/1962 Arnold 49-375 X DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primal Examiner.

J. KARL BELL, Assistant Examiner.

1. REGULATING MEANS FOR MOVING A WINDOW BETWEEN OPEN AND CLOSEDPOSITIONS RELATIVE TO A VEHICLE BODY OPENING, THE WINDOW INCLUDING ACLOSURE PORTION FOR CLOSING THE OPENING AND A TAILPIECE PORTIONEXTENDING THEREFROM, INCLUDING SPACED FIRST AND SECOND GUIDE MEANSMOUNTED ON THE BODY, GUIDED MEANS MOUNTED ON A PORTION OF THE WINDOWINTERMEDIATE THE CLOSURE AND TAILPIECE PORTIONS AND ENGAGEABLE WITH THEFIRST GUIDE MEANS TO GUIDE THE MOVEMENT OF THE WINDOW IN A PREDETERMINEDPATH, THE SECOND GUIDE MEANS RECEIVING THE TAILPIECE PORTION TO PROVIDESTABILITY OF THE WINDOW LATERALLY OF THE PREDETERMINED PATH DURINGWINDOW MOVEMENT, AND OPERATING MEANS FOR MOVING THE WINDOW BETWEEN OPENAND CLOSED POSITIONS.